Where Administration granted claimant's request for withdrawal of his
application for benefits and, later, after he filed his second
application, it is determined he was mentally incompetent at the time he
requested his earlier application be withdrawn and that, but for its
withdrawal, he would have been entitled to benefits on such application,
held, withdrawal of the first application, being to claimant's
disadvantage and occurring while he was mentally incompetent, should be
considered to have no effect on his right to benefits and claimant is,
therefore, entitled to benefits based on his first application.

DILLIN, Judge:

The plaintiff brought this action to review a final decision of the
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, denying the plaintiff's
application for a period of disability and disability benefits, as
authorized by the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.A. § 416(i), §
423.

This Court has jurisdiction of the action pursuant to § 205(g) of the
Social Security Act, U.S.C.A. § 405(g). It has been submitted upon the
transcript of the record, plaintiff's motion for judgment on the
pleadings, and defendant's motion for summary judgment.

The record discloses that plaintiff filed his application for disability
benefits on April 2, 1957. On April 11, 1957, he filed what the Bureau of
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance considered to be a withdrawal of such
application, but what plaintiff contends was merely a request that the
Bureau withhold consideration of the application until further notice from
him.

On May 18, 1959, plaintiff filed a second application for benefits.
Benefits were denied by the Bureau. He requested a hearing, which was
granted, and the hearing examiner, in an opinion dated June 23, 1960,
allowed the application. The Bureau accordingly issued its award for
benefits retroactive to May 1958.

On February 7, 1961, plaintiff requested reconsideration by the Bureau of
its award, on the sole ground that the award should have been based on his
original application of April 2, 1957, with benefits to commence as of
July 1957,[1] as per § 223(c)(3)
of the Act. The Bureau reconsidered the claim, but held that the
determination of June 23, 1960, was correct. On March 28, 1961, plaintiff
requested a hearing, which was granted, and on July 26, 1961, the hearing
examiner held that the previous determinations as to date of entitlement
were correct. The Appeals Council declined to review such determination,
which thereupon became final.

* * * * * *

Plaintiff's own characterization of his disabling illness was asthma,
stomach trouble, and nervousness. However, the hearing examiner's decision
of June 23, 1960, upon which the Bureau's award is based, finds that
plaintiff has a severe mental impairment which precluded him from
substantial gainful activity after January 28, 1956. Psychiatric
examination of April 1960, gave a diagnosis of chronic paranoid
schizophrenia, probably active for many years, characterized by severely
disturbed thought processes and an elaborate paranoid delusional system.
The prognosis was thought to be poor.

Thus we have a plaintiff who was at all stages of the various proceedings
before the Bureau a person suffering from a mental illness, and who is
still suffering from such illness. the proceedings must be viewed in this
light.

As to the alleged withdrawal of plaintiff's application for benefits on
April 11, 1957, it is true that the language of such instrument would
justify the hearing examiner in holding that a complete withdrawal was
intended, if such instrument had been executed by a rational person.
However, the Bureau's own finding demonstrates conclusively that plaintiff
was not rational on such date. Further study of the record indicates that
he was at that time laboring under the delusion that various individuals
were following him, spying upon him, and conspiring to send him to prison
for misstating the date of his birth in his application, and that such
delusion motivated the "withdrawal."

The courts are bound to protect the rights of persons suffering from
mental illness, and should, in proper cases, relieve them from mistakes in
judgment committed while in such condition. We know of no good reason why
the same rule should not apply to boards, bureaus, and commissions of the
executive branch of the government, while acting in a quasi judicial
capacity.

It is apparent that plaintiff would have been entitled to benefits from
July 1957, pursuant to his original application, but for its purported
withdrawal. We hold that the purported withdrawal, having been made by a
person of unsound mind to his detriment, should have been disregarded by
the Bureau and his * * * entitlement to benefits fixed to commence as of
July 1957. The decision of the Secretary is therefore not based upon
substantial evidence and is contrary to law.

Plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings is therefore GRANTED,
and the defendant's motion for summary judgment is DENIED.

[1] The earliest month for which
a disability insurance benefit was payable, under § 223(c) of the Social
Security Act, was July 1957. [Ed.]

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